Black Friday Sale In India: Ecommerce Startups Expect 30-50% Rise In Sales

Indians are naturally attracted to discounts and the country already has its own Black Friday Sale-like event – our pre-Diwali festive season sales. Yet, as the US-focussed, pre-Thanksgiving phenomenon caught the eyes of the urban millennial and GenZ and ecommerce brands in India were quick to act.

This Black Friday (November 25, 2022) many popular ecommerce companies and marketplaces in India, including Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, CRED and others, are trying to create a buzz with Black Friday Sale discounts. Several D2C brands across electronics, home care, appliances and clothing are all set for the Black Friday Sale and the Cyber Monday Sale which will be live from midnight through the weekend. 

However, several ecommerce participants who spoke to Inc42 echoed one point. November and December are usually the slow months (in terms of sales) and thus, the Black Friday sale has been advertised by ecommerce platforms and D2C players to exploit revenue-driving products without a deep-discounting mechanism.

There has been a rise in interest and engagement levels for the Black Friday Sale from the top 8-10 markets in India in the last 2-3 years, yet, it is still a Tier-2 shopping event for online businesses, unlike the West. “So, the expectations are moderate by large,” Ajay Mehta, managing director, AIWA India, told Inc42.

In absolute terms, while some players have hinted at a 50% rise from business as usual (BAU), others have suggested a mere 30% rise in sales. Yet, the numbers are good, ecommerce players have reverberated.

Five Market Expectations & Trends Around Black Friday Season Sale 2022 In India

A Warm-Up Event Before New Year Sales: “Following the festive period, November is usually a lull period considering muted sales for at least 4-5 weeks before the calendar year-end sales or holiday sales kick in,” Mehta said.

“Black Friday Sale gives an opportunity to improve traction during this period and see some increased promo-led shopping interest,” Mehta said.

Last year, ecommerce brands (especially small and new age) were reluctant to join the non-festive season sales event, but participating brands witnessed a nearly 40% increase in BAU sales. That has prompted several brands to join the bandwagon in 2022 and help achieve sales targets and keep the momentum going well into the first quarter of the next year.

Luring First Time Customers: Brands are likely to benefit from such off-season sale opportunities helping them get discovered with strategies such as gamification, sampling (for product adoption) and more, CRED Commerce’s head Abhay Pruthi said. 

Furthermore, brands are of the opinion that Black Friday Sale 2022 will be a good opportunity for brands to lure first-time users. Since there will not be a hoard of discounts coming in, the market is opportune for bagging customers via marketing campaigns.

Catch The Second Time Purchaser/Shopper Too: Wellbeing Nutrition’s Saurabh Kapoor said, “This Black Friday Sale, brands that are looking at maintaining their top line will continue deep discounting, but for a stronger long-term bottom line approach, this is the time to focus on a strong customer retention strategy – a trend that will drive discounts of the season.”

That is, after brands have made their sales in the pre-Diwali festive season sales, ecommerce leaders have opined that brands (especially in the wellness and quick product consumption segment) should focus on making the second sale.

Limited Advertisement, Limited Discounts: Compared to the US, the width and depth of discounts that will be offered by brands in India will definitely be lesser, VAHDAM India’s Sneha Beriwal said. 

Other founders of ecommerce brands have stated that new-age brands are likely to go all-out during Black Friday Sale 2022, but there will be a 10-20% differential in the magnitude of discounts by the depth (in comparison to pre-Diwali sales)

Driving D2C Exports Growth: The holiday shopping season – Black Friday Sale and Cyber Monday Sale – is an important time of the year for Indian exporters. According to Amazon, in 2021, Indian exporters witnessed a nearly 2X surge in demand across North America, the EU, the Middle East and North Africa. 

For instance, Wholsum Foods’ head of online revenue has stated that the D2C food brand is expecting a 4X growth in sales during the Black Friday sale. Similarly, since more and more people are relying on ecommerce to buy, the US-based ecommerce giant expects the Black Friday Sale 2022 will help accelerate export business. 

Furthermore, a dull shopping activity in India is the most likely scenario after the festive and end-of-season sales. Thus, Indian D2C brands that are likely to export during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday season will have an increased top line.